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20. April 2017

State to prop up defense industry with EUR 43mln from budget

Aleksandar Vucic has announced that defense industry factories will the coming period will receive direct financial assistance in the amount of EUR 43 million.
The money will come from the national budget, the government announced on its website.
The prime minister addressed a news conference in Belgrade on Thursday after meeting with directors of eight defense industry companies, the public company Jugoimport SDPR, and two companies that "should become part of the Serbian defense industry in the course of 20017," as well as with directors of three "repair centers."
Vucic "explained that these funds will help improve defense industry factories' business and ensure that export grows from an expected EUR 550 million this year to EUR 750 million by 2020."
"We had an important meeting with representatives of all arms factories today. Krusik did not ask for support because it has employed more than 1,000 new workers and is operating well. There will be no deficit in the budget in April either, which, if continued, will enable wage increases and more money for pensions," he said.
The state budget has a surplus of RSD 20.4 billion as of today - "under the approved budget and the plan of the IMF, a deficit of between RSD 53 billion and RSD 54 billion is planned. With higher revenues and lower expenses, we managed to save RSD 470 million in the first four months," said the prime minister, and "pointed out that based on these results, we can now invest money and encourage the development of the defense industry."
@b92